The Royal Wedding Cake Has 8 Tiers & 900 Flowers

The cake served at the royal wedding reception this afternoon at Buckingham Palace was even fancier than we had imagined! The impressive creation took five weeks to make, fed 600 people, and had eight tiers and 900 icing flowers. Whew!

Fiona Cairns and her team of bakers used the Lambeth method to decorate the fruit cake, which had to be transported from Leicestershire to the palace. As per Kate’s instructions, 17 different kinds of “blooms and foliage” were incorporated, each with a particular significance:

Along the cake’s base ran ivy leaves, symbolising marriage, and the bottom three tiers were decorated with piped lace work and daisies, meaning innocence, sweet William — grant me one smile — and lavender. There were infill features of cascading orange and apple blossom, honeysuckle, acorns with oak leaves — meaning strength and endurance — and bridal rose, which symbolises happiness, and myrtle.

The fourth tier featured the intricate garlands, reflecting the architectural details in the room, and above this was another cake covered with lattice work and piped leaf detail. Lily of the valley — representing sweetness and humility — covered the sixth tier which also had an artistic interpretation of the couple’s cipher – their initials intertwined below a coronet. The four flowers of the home nations — English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil and Irish shamrock — were featured on the penultimate tier and the top cake, around six inches in diameter, was covered with lace details with a garland of lily of the valley and heather on top.

Since Kate’s cake was served at the reception, we assume William‘s cake (the chocolate biscuit one!) is being eaten at the dinner party that is going down right this very moment.